Misinformation Surrounding FEMA’s October 4 Emergency Alert Test Circulates Online

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Claim:

A scheduled test of the Emergency Alert System on October 4 intends to send signals to mobile phones across the nation with the purpose of activating nanoparticles like graphene oxide that have allegedly been introduced into human bodies.

AP’s Evaluation:

Unfounded. The forthcoming test of the nationwide Emergency Alert System employs the same recognizable auditory signal that has been in operation since the 1960s to disseminate alerts throughout the United States. A representative from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), responsible for administering the test, has also confirmed that the signal has no known negative health implications. These assertions bring back to life discredited conspiracy theories surrounding the components of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Additional Fact Checks:

• Migrants do not receive a monthly sum of $2,200 from the U.S. federal government.
• Amazon has not instructed its delivery drivers to stop their vehicles during the October 4 FEMA alert test.
• The Governor of Arizona did not resign in a clandestine manner. She was in Washington D.C. for less than a day and has since returned.

The Facts:

Warnings about the national emergency warning system’s impending test have been amplified on social media platforms.

A multitude of users are urging others to disable their mobile phones on the testing day due to a perceived grander conspiracy to control the populace.

One viral video features a woman alleging that the test will activate technology that has supposedly been implanted into human bodies. She states that the emergency broadcasting system overseen by FEMA will not just be a test but will transmit high-frequency signals through mobile phones, radios, and televisions with the aim of “activating nanoparticles, including graphene oxide.”

A second video with wide circulation echoes similar concerns, stating that billions of people worldwide have been injected with graphene oxide and other nanoparticles “through conspicuous means.”

Despite the heightened public discourse, FEMA’s upcoming routine test will not send a wireless signal designed to activate any such nanoparticles within the human body. Stanley Perlman, a professor of microbiology and immunology at the University of Iowa, mentioned that these theories seem to be recirculated myths about the COVID-19 vaccines. These unfounded theories suggest—without substantiating evidence—that such vaccines contain graphene oxide or other nanoparticles that could be remotely activated to control individuals.

Matthew Laurens, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, clarified that graphene oxide is not a component in the mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines manufactured by Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna. Julia Greer, a materials science professor at the California Institute of Technology, discredited the idea that graphene oxide can be “activated,” calling it “baseless.”

Jeremy Edwards, FEMA’s spokesperson, affirmed that the primary objective of the emergency alert test is to validate the system’s efficacy in alerting the public to national emergencies. No adverse health impacts have been reported from previous tests.

The test, scheduled for October 4 at approximately 2:20 p.m. Eastern Time, might be rescheduled to October 11 in the event of severe weather or other significant occurrences, FEMA noted.

Federal legislation mandates such tests to occur at least once every three years. The most recent test was conducted on August 11, 2021.

Edwards emphasized that the auditory signal used for these tests remains consistent with tones that have been recognizable to the American public since 1963 when President John F. Kennedy established the original Emergency Broadcast System.

This fact-checking initiative is part of AP’s ongoing efforts to combat widespread misinformation, in collaboration with external companies and organizations, to provide factual context to deceptive content circulating online.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about FEMA Emergency Alert System Test

More about FEMA Emergency Alert System Test

• FEMA Official Website
• CDC Information on COVID-19 Vaccines
• University of Iowa Department of Microbiology and Immunology
• University of Maryland School of Medicine Center for Vaccine Development and Global Health
• California Institute of Technology Materials Science Department
• Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on Emergency Alert System
• AP Fact-Check Initiative
• Historical Context: President John F. Kennedy and the Original Emergency Broadcast System